


Read My Lips

by respectable_username



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Deaf!Mumbo, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 23:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30079860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respectable_username/pseuds/respectable_username
Summary: Not many of the Hermits know that Mumbo's Deaf. He's somehow managed to maintain that secret for several years now. But Iskall manages to convince Mumbo that maybe Mumbo's life would be easier if he did share this with the others.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 129





	Read My Lips

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was prompted by [this post on Tumblr](https://jackstanifold.tumblr.com/post/643661776673701888/any-mumbo-hc) which got me thinking about this Deaf!Mumbo "what if" and then ran from there.
> 
> Please note: While I have done some research, I'm writing beyond my own experiences here, and so am likely to have made mistakes. Please let me know in the comments if you notice anything in particular so I can learn and become a better ally!

A large, hairy hand waved itself into Mumbo's field of view. Mumbo looked up from the circuit he was building in the Pacific basement to see Iskall standing beside him.

"Hallo!" said Iskall.

"Hey dude," said Mumbo, dusting the redstone off his hands and grabbing his hearing-aid out of his pocket.

Iskall waited for a second while Mumbo put it in his ear, wincing at the small shriek it made as Mumbo moved it into place. Mumbo didn't notice.

"We missed you at the meeting," Iskall said.

"Yeah, I just wasn't feeling up for it," Mumbo said. "Xisuma will get me the minutes."

"And the same thing last week, and the week before that, and the week before that," Iskall said. "It's not just updates, Mumbo. We make decisions in those meetings too. Big decisions. You need to be a part of it."

"I'm happy with whatever everybody else decides," Mumbo said.

"Mumbo," Iskall said, raising the eyebrow over his good eye.

"Those meetings are stressful, ok!" Mumbo said. "I can never figure out who's talking, and half the time they're looking the other way or have their mouth covered and then somebody asks a question and I miss it and have no idea what I'm voting on and I'm enough of a spoon already even before missing half the context of everything."

"Mumbo," Iskall said with a sigh, "is it time you just tell them?"

"What?" Mumbo said.

"Is it time you just tell them?" Iskall repeated, trying to enunciate more clearly.

"Thanks, that's what I thought you said," Mumbo said. "It's more just, how can I tell them? I'm already the youngest Hermit. I just don't want the others to have even more reasons to baby me."

"You'd hardly be the first one needing a bit of extra help," Iskall countered. "Scar has dyslexia, Doc and I are both missing an eye, Etho wears a mask for his asthma, Xisuma... ok I don't know why Xisuma always wears a helmet, but it's a thing."

"I know, you're right," Mumbo said with a sigh. "I'm just.. just scared, you know? It's been so long since I told anybody new. And both you and Grian found out super early. How are the Hermits who've been around for years going to feel? Will they even believe me?"

"I'm sure it will be fine," Iskall said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "And I'll be right there with you. And then you won't have to pretend anymore and can be a part of things with the help you need."

Mumbo took a deep breath. "Ok, let's do it then," he said. "But you'd better organise it quickly or else I'm going to chicken out again."

***

"Hey Mumbo," Iskall said, waving at the young redstoner.

"Hey Iskall," Mumbo said, waving back to the newest Hermit.

"You know you say my name so weirdly," said Iskall with a laugh. "It's pronounced ' **iss** -kall'."

"' **Ey-** skal'?" Mumbo tried.

"' **Iss** -kall'," he corrected.

"'Iz- **kale** '?" Mumbo tried again.

"No no, ' **iss** -kall'," said Iskall, slightly confused how Mumbo's pronunciation could still be so far off even after Iskall's third week on the server. "I'm not a leafy vegetable, even if I do wear a lot of green!"

Mumbo looked away with a nervous laugh that gave way to sudden panic.

"Hey dude, you ok?" asked Iskall, reaching out to put a hand on Mumbo's shoulder. "It's not that big of a deal, I promise."

Mumbo jumped at the sudden contact, looking back towards Iskall.

"What's wrong?" Iskall asked. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. You can call me whatever you like. I'm sorry."

"Um, sorry, it's not that, it's just, well, uh, you see," he stammered.

Mumbo gulped hard, quickly looking around the room to make sure they were alone, and pushed back the messy locks of hair covering his left ear, revealing his hearing-aid.

"Got a bit too close to a few too many loud machines," said Mumbo, moving his hair back again. "I'm usually pretty good at reading lips though. Just, um, it's just hard to guess how to pronounce words I haven't seen before."

"Ahhhh, ok," Iskall said, nodding in understanding. "Does anyone else know?"

"Just Xisuma," Mumbo replied. "Because he's the admin but he wears that helmet so I can't, y'know..."

Iskall nodded again. "It'll be our secret then," he said with a friendly grin.

"Thanks, Iskall," Mumbo said, smiling back.

"You still pronounce my name weirdly," Iskall said. "It's 'iss' like in hiss, like the noise a snake makes, and 'kall' like calendar with all the months and things."

"' **Iss** -kall'" Mumbo tried, feeling the unfamiliar word in his mouth.

"That's it!" said Iskall, beaming.

"Well then, thanks, Iskall," Mumbo said, grinning back at his new friend.

***

Mumbo woke up from his AFK trance to find Grian poking about his little starter base.

"Uh, what are you doing here," asked Mumbo. He wasn't used to people just dropping by unannounced (apart from Iskall). He didn't even have his hearing-aid in!

"Oh, uh, just borrowing ... sugar," the new Hermit said with a sheepish grin. "That's ... neighbours do, right? Anyway, you ... so deep ... ... disturb you."

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess," Mumbo said, hoping he'd correctly interpreted what he caught of Grian's words.

Grian turned around and said something, but without his hearing-aid in, Mumbo couldn't tell anything beyond the fact something was said at all. Good thing Grian was loud or else Mumbo doubted he could have picked up even that much.

"Sorry?" Mumbo asked.

"I said nice starter base you ... here," Grian repeated, turning around to face Mumbo.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Mumbo replied.

Grian cocked his head to the side for a just a second, staring at Mumbo in thought.

"... to ... my base?" Grian said.

_Please no not now_ , Mumbo thought. "Yeah sure," he said.

"Follow me!" said Grian before turning around and swimming out the front entrance.

Mumbo hurriedly stuck his hearing-aid in his ear and mussed his hair over it before following after the new Hermit.

It didn't take long to get there. Mumbo squeezed through the small opening into Grian's bottle of a starter base.

"What you think?" ask Grian.

"Very impressive," said Mumbo, looking around.

"... 10 hours to empty this space," Grian said, starting to talk while Mumbo was still looking elsewhere.

"Oh wow," Mumbo said.

"Come on, let me show you..." Grian said, turning around before he finished.

Grian rushed around his base, pointing out various bits of decoration and found treasures. Mumbo followed the small Hermit through his base, trying to insert the correct generic "oooh"s and "ahhh"s and "mhmm"s as he struggled to keep track of what Grian was saying.

Grian suddenly turned to look at him, puzzled.

"What?" asked Mumbo.

"I asked 'what do people normally do in their spare time here?'" Grian repeated.

"Oh," said Mumbo. Yes, he could see why "mhmm" wasn't a valid answer to that question. "Uh, mostly just chill out, hang around the shopping district, chat with other people, work on other projects, y'know."

Grian paused, doing the head tilt thing again.

"Mumbo, can I ask a personal question?" asked Grian.

_Here it comes_ , thought Mumbo, his heart sinking. _Somebody else calling me rude or something for not paying attention._

"I suppose," said Mumbo cautiously.

"Are you Deaf?" Grian asked. "I mean, it's got to either be that or you're about to kiss me, given how much you stare at my lips."

Mumbo's eyebrows shot up in surprise before being upstaged by his burning cheeks.

"Yeah, I... I'm Deaf," he said. Confirming it he found was so much easier than having to bring it up in the first place. He brushed his hair away from the hearing-aid he no longer had to hide, cutting out a lot of the interference his hair normally caused. "You figured it out quickly."

"I'm good at figuring out people," Grian said with a shrug. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Just face me when you talk so I can lip read," Mumbo said. "And please don't tell anyone."

"Got it," said Grian. "Though, how do you manage to hide something like that from the other Hermits? You've been here a while, right?"

"I don't really hang out with the others very often, so it doesn't come up," Mumbo admitted. "I think they think I'm just rude or oblivious or something. Which, for that second one, isn't entirely wrong."

Grian nodded. "Well, I know you're not being rude," he said, "and I'd like it if we could hang out some time, being neighbours and all."

"Yeah, sure, that could be fun," said Mumbo.

"Anyway, let me do that tour again now I know what's up," said Grian, grinning his excited grin.

"I'd like that," said Mumbo with a grateful smile.

***

Grian had learned a few signs in BSL. Unfortunately, they were almost exclusively for words that one shouldn't use in polite company.

And, of course, Grian used these signs almost exclusively while in polite company.

_Stop_ , Mumbo signed as subtly as he could manage, his flat hands only just above the edge of the table. He looked away, pointedly ignoring the small troublemaker.

He glanced around the table, trying to figure out who was currently speaking. He hated these meetings so much. Could never keep track of what was going on at the best of times, let alone when Grian was purposefully trying to distract him. But it was the first big meeting of the new season. He couldn't exactly skip it.

Mumbo caught Xisuma's eyes as the admin frowned towards the pair of them. _Sorry_ , Mumbo signed, his fist making a couple of small circles against his chest, again trying not to bring too much attention.

Xisuma nodded towards VintageBeef, who Mumbo saw was the one currently speaking.

_Thank you_ , he signed, his hand touching the flat of his chin then moving forward and down.

As he turned, he thought he caught Etho watching them, though he quickly returned his attention back to Beef. Had Etho seen anything? Had he figured anything out? It was so much harder trying to keep a secret when Grian was around.

Mumbo tried to focus in on what Beef was saying. The Hermits had been going through re-introductions from those who'd been away for a while, nothing too important. But Beef's bushy beard made it significantly more difficult for Mumbo to follow what was being said. He was so glad Iskall kept his beard trimmed. He had to concentrate extra hard to figure out what even half Beef's words were.

Suddenly, everybody's heads swivelled back towards Xisuma. Mumbo dutifully followed suit as Beef's up-and-down voice was replaced by X's flatter tone. He couldn't tell what X was saying, but X finger spelled _E_ while he said it. He must be introducing Etho next. 

Mumbo turned his head with the others to watch what Etho had to say. Etho did a little wave and then proceeded to say... something. The lower half of Etho's face was completely covered by a mask, and his steady tone didn't give anything for Mumbo to latch on to at all. Great, he had no chance then. 

And, of course, Grian was still signing relatively rude things from the other side of the table.

This was going to be a long meeting.

***

"I can't do this I can't do this I can't do this," Mumbo said, pacing back and forth in his storage room. The weekly group meeting was only an hour away.

"Mumbo," Iskall said as he sat on a shulker box, waving his hands to try and attract the other Hermit's attention.

"It's a bad idea. Why did I ever agree to this? Everything was going fine just the way it was. Why did you talk me into this!"

"Mumbo!" Iskall practically shouted, trying to tap Mumbo as he walked past but missing.

"I've got to message Xisuma, tell him to take it off the agenda. He's going to be disappointed, but I can't. I just can't do it. I can't."

Iskall got up and stood in Mumbo's path to block him, putting a hand on each shoulder to force the younger Hermit to look at him.

"Mumbo, it will be ok," Iskall said. "I'll be right there with you. So will Grian, and Xisuma. The Hermits are your friends. I'm sure, no, I'm certain they'll all be supportive."

"I can't do this, Iskall," Mumbo said in a small voice.

"Yes, you can," said Iskall. "I believe in you."

Iskall knew Mumbo wasn't big on hugs, but it seemed appropriate this time. Iskall pulled his friend in tight, rocking Mumbo gently as he shook, holding him close until his breathing started to slow to a more normal pace.

Finally, Iskall released him, returning to a position where Mumbo could see Iskall's face.

"That better?" asked Iskall.

"Yeah. Thanks," said Mumbo.

"You can do this," said Iskall. "I know you can."

Mumbo nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Come on, let's go get ourselves some good seats," said Iskall.

They made their way over to the Shopping District and down to the meeting room at the base of the Town Hall. Mumbo took a seat vaguely in the middle of one side of the table while Iskall took the seat opposite him.

The other Hermits slowly filed in over the course of the next hour, taking their seats around the table. Grian came in and sat to Mumbo's left.

"I saw you've got an announcement on the agenda," Grian said after tapping Mumbo on the shoulder. "Is it what I think it is?"

"Yeah," said Mumbo nervously.

Grian smiled his big, excited grin, pulling Mumbo into a hug.

"Good luck," Grian said after releasing his friend. "You'll do brilliantly!"

"Thanks," Mumbo said, smiling back.

Xisuma walked in right on the hour as always, taking his usual seat at the head of the table, sorting through his notes as he waited for the stragglers to arrive to start the meeting.

He looked over to Mumbo, managing to catch the young Hermit's eye. _Good luck_ , Xisuma signed, a thumbs up transitioning into a sweep of the index finger over where his nose would be.

_Thank you_ , Mumbo signed back, bringing his hand forward and down from the flat of his chin.

The last few Hermits trickled in, with Scar the last to enter, apologising profusely as he made his way over to the last seat.

Xisuma stood up, officially starting the meeting and going through some sort of opening spiel. Mumbo couldn't tell exactly what though. There wasn't enough variation in Xisuma's voice for Mumbo to be able to pick out any words.

Xisuma suddenly nodded towards Iskall. Iskall acknowledged and turned to make sure Mumbo could read him.

"Mr Mumbo Jumbo has something to share with us," Iskall said. "Go ahead, Mumbo." He smiled encouragingly.

Mumbo's heart started to race as he stood up and looked around the table. All the Hermits were staring at him, some with simple curiosity, others with concern. He looked down at Grian, who gave him a double thumbs up and a big smile. He caught Xisuma's eyes as the admin gave him a nod.

Well, there was no chickening out now.

"Um, hi everybody," Mumbo said. "I just need to reveal something personal that I've not really told many people about."

He breathed deeply, trying to remember the mini speech he'd written down and practiced over and over again in front of the mirror.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm Deaf," he said, tucking his hair away from the hearing-aid for the others to see. He could see the looks of surprise go through most of the Hermits' faces, along with some "a-ha" moments on others as the new piece of information clicked into place.

"You don't need to do anything," he continued. "I'm pretty good at lip reading so I can understand most of what people say when they talk to me. It would just be very helpful if you make sure I can see you before you start talking, and please be patient if I ask you to repeat yourself a bunch of times. Thanks."

Mumbo sat back down in his chair, adrenaline still pumping through his body. It was all out in the open now. No turning back.

He didn't see who started it, but very soon he could see everyone around the table clapping, hear the dull roar through his hearing-aid.

"Good job, Mumbo!" he saw Iskall say from across the table, beaming his giant smile.

Grian pulled Mumbo into a tight hug. "You did amazing!" he said after releasing him.

"Thanks," said Mumbo, smiling.

He looked over at Xisuma. _I'm proud of you_ , Xisuma signed, no longer having to worry about exposing Mumbo by doing so.

Mumbo beamed at that, signing _thank you_ back.

He looked around at the others in the room, all of whom were somehow clapping or cheering him on.

_Congrats MJ_ , Joe Hills signed when Mumbo looked his way, cycling thumbs up before spelling Mumbo's initials. Of course BSL would be one of the many random things Joe knew.

_Thank you_ , Mumbo signed back.

Mumbo caught Etho's eye. He signed something Mumbo didn't recognise, presumably in ASL.

_Sorry_ , Mumbo signed, shrugging.

Etho shrugged back apologetically and returned to generic clapping like the others.

_Thank you_ , Mumbo signed back anyway.

The gentle roar faded as the Hermits looked back towards Xisuma. Mumbo followed their gaze.

"Now, to the next item on the agenda," Xisuma said, signing as he talked. "The location of the new mining district. Scar?"

Mumbo smiled, relaxing back into his chair.

"The old mining district—wait, Mumbo, is this ok?" asked Scar, turning to make sure he was facing the young Hermit.

"Yeah, thanks," said Mumbo.

Scar nodded. "The old mining district is almost out of sand," he continued. "I've scoped out a few new deserts we can maybe use to replace it..."

This meeting was already so much easier to follow than the last. Nobody seemed angry, or annoyed, or worse, pitying from Mumbo's revelation. Maybe things would be ok? Mumbo would have to remember to thank Iskall later for pushing him. If nothing else, it was nice not to have to hide anymore.

Yeah, things were going to be ok.


End file.
